"I just had this idea that maybe it would be more interesting to structure the book around real-life things that Jane Austen either owned or wrote about," Byrne tells Jacki Lyden, host of weekends on All Things Considered.

You're beloved by the literary fiction set, having received a Pulitzer nomination and inclusion in The New Yorker's prestigious “20 Under 40” list. You’re also a favorite of the sci-fi/fantasy crowd, as evidenced by i09 naming Vampires in the Lemon Grove one of its most anticipated reads for 2013. Do you hope your work appeals to one group over the other? How would you classify your writing?

If a dog taught itself to read and could read my stories, I'd be thrilled! Anyone who wants to look at my work is welcome. Any response and surprise to my work is great. I'm always a little worried that it will come off as off-putting or bizarre, but growing up I was a big fan of sci-fi and fantasy books. I was enamored with old school Russians and Jane Eyre. Genre-wise I've never really felt like an authority on my work. I just love playing with the horror-genre structure, and I'm not really thinking exactly what age group it will go to.

There seems to be this debate between fantasy vs. realism but I like to use the fantasy genre and people's notions of the horror genre to subvert these structures. I like to write fantasy with some supernatural elements to help people see something political or historical. I like to broaden the definition of fantasy to help expose or think through certain ideas.